off my yard, kid. martha: "happening now" starts right now, everybody. >> right now brand new stories and breaking news

we're getting first images of damage left behind and hearing from people in its path. uping the ante in a massive manhunt for fugitive ex-cop and killer. will a reward help police find christopher dorner? it is all "happening now." jon: it last happened in the year 1415. jenna: you weren't around at that time. jon: i was not around, neither was television. for the first time in nearly 600 years a pope says he will resign. good morning to you. i'm john scott. jenna: we're witnessing history here, right? to say the least. jon: six centuries since

this happened. jenna: we're god you're with us. i'm jenna lee. pope benedict xvi citing his declining health for this decision. the vatican says there is nothing mysterious or grave they quote. but the pope benedict xvi brother told a german newspaper that the pope had difficulty walking. just one report but something to take into consideration here. the 85-year-old pontiff will resign at the end of this month after nearly eight years as pope. he was elected by his fellow cardinals in 2005. we're getting new reaction to the announcement from around the world and across the united states. the united states home to 68 million catholics, about 1/5 of the country, including reaction from one church leader elevated to cardinal by the pope last february. >> my affection and for and ad mir vision -- admiration for pope ben benedict xvi.

i love him so much, as the bish shop of roam who appointed me to you all. to the holy father who made me a cardinal. i just always admired him as a scholar, as a priest, as a holy man. i'm in admiration for him is even higher because of his you humility. jenna: mr. anderson just had a private meeting with pope benedict xvi just last december. a few weeks ago, mr. anderson. what can you tell us about the meeting? >> i can say that his reasonings, his interaction as it always been. from my experience there was no slowing down of his inelect wall capabilities or faculties. it is surprising the announcement today. jenna: physically did you observe anything? we heard the report from his

brother maybe with difficulty walking. anything that you noticed. >> that has been very obvious for many of the masses he has attendedded, the audiences he is slowing down physically in terms of that. he may believe that the rigorous kind of intellectual life that he has lived, work days of 10, 12 hours a day, may be, he is believing now what he said several years ago on the book that he wrote that when the pontiff, the pope, begins to slow down, physically or intellectually he should think about resigning and now he has done that. jenna: it is an unusual move as we mentioned. when you look over history of the catholic church as someone that works in coordination with the church to promote catholicism, what do you think of the decision? >> well, i think that we are witnessing one of the great popes making a great decision. he will go down in history i believe as a very holy pope,

someone of great intellect, of great concern for the welfare of the church and the church's mission of charity. and so i think if he has decided that the church really deserves somebody who can give 12, 14 hours a day, seven days a week, and that should occur very soon, then i think he has made a very prayerful and holy decision. jenna: anyone in the top of your list for the next leader of the church? >> well, i think one of the things if you look at the cardinals, especially cardinal dolan just a minute ago, you see catholics have a great many of wonderful cardinals who would step into that role and would serve, very, very well. i think they will look for somebody who will continue the intellectual, the pass storm mission of john paul the 2nd and benedict the 16th. who will be in alignment with them and their cardinals from europe, north america, latin america and africa that can do that very

well. jenna: like all popes, really in the position of great power. there is also criticism that sometimes is levied upon someone with such a responsibility. i'm just curious when you reflect back over these last several years with pope benedict, what do you think is important when you look ahead to who is chosen for the next pope but not only for the leadership of the church but a religious leader, a spiritual leader for the world? >> i think one of the great challenges is reconciliation among people of different faiths of integrity, of spirituality, of purifying the church. this has been a great concern of pope benedict and i think his successor will be of the same mind, that, the people have to folk discuss on the person of jesus christ as christians, the work of charity and brotherhood. jenna: mr. anderson, so nice of you to join us today. we thank you very much. >> thank you very much. jenna: quite a day in history as we mentioned. we're going to take a look

at what's next? how does this election process for a pope take place. here's a little bit what we were able to glean for you. the college of cardinals will elect a new leader of the catholic church. those 120 cardinals must begin meeting 15 to 20 days after pope benedict xvi's resignation. for a little while there actually isn't a pope. keeping with tradition they are sequestered this group in vatican city to insure secrecy to protect them from outside influence the election after new pope requires 2/3 majority plus one. if you're wondering three major officials effectively run the catholic church while the process takes place. we expect the process to take place, hypothetically, jon, by easter. but the timeline can be moved. so we'll continue to watch this process as it begins. jon: a significant milestone. now this fox extreme weather alert on the aftermath of a deadly snowstorm across the

northeast. the weekend whiteout slammed new england with some of the biggest snow totals ever recorded. parts of connecticut hit very hard. check out this time-lapse video showing the snow coming down "fast and furious" there before reaching more than three feet in some places. folks now struggling to dig out. >> we never seen it this bad. i think this is the worst. >> this is terrible. said the national guard are here too, look. jon: our rick left thoul is out -- leventhal is in ham den, connecticut. what does it look like, rick? >> reporter: this town got nearly 3 1/2 feet of snow, 40 inches the most in the tri-state area of new york, new jersey and connecticut. many surrounding communities got at least two feet. these are the highest totals since 188. many roads behind us are still buried in snow. we'll show you one of the secondary roads, main roads has been plowed. the highways and main secondary roads have been plowedded.

traffic is relatively light. they're asking people to stay off the roads. a lot of people can't get out of the roads. a lot of driveways are still blocked by the thick snow. good news for the residents in most cases power is back on. a lot of schools are closed. jon, we have this mix of rain and freezing rain and snow falling on top of this. this could even create more problems down the road especially with people a lot of snow on the roofs. could weigh them down. they're worried about collapses out here. jon: a state of emergency has been declared. what else are they doing to try to dig out of this mess? >> reporter: they called out hundreds of national guard to help with snow removal and move people from place to place. they brought out snow shovels. they brought out a lot of heavy equipment. 65 pieces of heavy equipment, payloaders and plow trucks to clear heavy snow from many of these communities. there have been more than 400 traffic accidents reported by the connecticut state police, dozens of

great injuries the governor spoke about the historic proportions of this storm. >> this is a record snowfall the likes of which our state has never seen or had not seen since the 1880s. unfortunately we live in a much more urban environment or maybe it's fortunate. it is a very urban and compact environment. moving a lot of snow piles are going to require heavier equipment. >> reporter: governor asking all nonessential employees to stay home. a lot of businesses closed today, jon. the streets as i mentioned are relatively quiet. that is good thing as they try to clear the snow. jon: it is a heavy snow too. it is a lot of moisture in there. it is hard to dig out. >> reporter: but good for snowballs. jon: always finding a bright spot. rick leventhal in ham den, connecticut. jenna: a fox news alert for you boeing out to california where police are offering a one million dollar reward for information leading to the capture of christopher dorner, a name you are now

familiar with. this is the former cop accused of killing three people and sparking a multi-state manhunt. william la jeunesse is live at l.a.p.d. headquarters with more on this story. william, police have up the ante. >> reporter: having declared war on the l.a.p.d. the department responded in kind this weekend, labeling him a domestic terrorist, citing his quote, reign of terror and putting out this one million dollar bounty leading to information to his arrest. we have new video released showing dorner in the police academy in 2005. in addition to this huge dragnet out there, the city as you said upped the ante with this money, a basically a million dollars. how bad the city wants the guy. considering hundreds of thousands of dollars it is already spending each day trying to protect these 50 l.a.p.d. officers and their families who dorner has targeted for murder. >> this is an act, make no mistake about it, of domestic terrorism.

this is a man who has targeted those that we entrust to protect the public. his actions can not go unanswered. a society is defind by what it values and we value our law enforcement family. >> reporter: now dorner has been on the run for just six days. for perspective, jenna, the olympic park bomber, eric rudolph, he was bounty out there. whitey bolger was on the fbi most wanted list for 12 years. two million dollars, which eventually was collected. jenna? powerful words by the chief of police as well, on this whole surge. what is the status of this search at this time? >> well, there are no credible lead. there was possible siting this weekend. that turned out to be negative.

coordinate information. now we do have information, video from a search up in big bear up in the san bernardino mountains. they have 30 officers this morning went out, back on the mountain looking what happened, vacation rentals that may be vacant. seeing up there in the higher elevations. they did find in his vehicle, two rifles and a hand gun. in addition to camping gears that was burned there on thursday. riverside police didn't release a photo of 34-year-old officer michael crane. dorner ambushed him on thursday. he had two tours in the middle east as a marine. behind a wife and two children. finally, jenna, to wrap up, chief he can about, l.a.p.d. says he is reopening the investigation that led to corner's -- dorner's dismissal not to appease the guy in any way parent and fair. that is the latest here from l.a.. jenna: we'll talk more about that. william la jeunesse in l.a.

with the latest. police believe christopher dorner and hear from william is heavily armed and extremely dangerous. that is the warning. his military and law enforcement background, capable and knowledgeable than the typical fugitive. what will it take to catch this guy? later this hour a former fbi special agent what it talks to capture this type of criminal, alleged criminal on the run. we'll have that for you in 10 minutes. jon: there are brand new developments to bring you in the death of a high school honor student in chicago. police are now questioning two men. they are calling persons of interest. the latest on the investigation next. plus the fight for answers in the deadly terror attack on our consulate in benghazi, could soon put several of president obama's key nominees in jeopardy. why leading republican lawmakers are threatening to hold up their confirmation. >> i'm not still filibustering. >> what would they have have

to do to bring this to a vote. >> i want to know who changed the talking points. references to al qaeda, talking points given to susan rice. more for you.

>> no confirmation without information. you know, when secretary clinton said she had a clear-eyed assessment of the threats in libya, that proved after this hearing not to be true. the department of defense knew about the cable coming from our living ambassador saying he couldn't defend the consulate on august 15th. they knew about the deteriorating security situation, but the secretary of state didn't know anything about this. so she was blind, the president was disengaged, and the department of defense never launched one airplane to help these folks for seven and a half hours. this is complete system failure, and i'm going to get to the bottom of it. >> let me put it this way, it's been done many, many times, in fact, 89 timings in recent history. 71 of those times where it was not filibustered necessarily, but it called for a 60-vote margin. i want a 60-vote margin, john, and you don't have to filibuster to get that. jon: or very tough talk from powerful relin senators --

republican senators threatening to hold up confirmations. at issue, the deadly terror attack on our consulate in benghazi, libya, and what senator graham calls stonewalling by the white house over requests for more information. so how much trouble are those nominees in here? let's talk about it with david drucker, associate politics editor for "roll call." jackjack reed, the democratic senator from rhode island, referring to these match nations -- machinations said this is unprecedented and unwarranted. is it? >> well, that's up for people to decide. i'm not sure if it's completely unprecedented. both parties have held up nominees, have filibustered nominees whether to the supreme court, to high court positions or otherwise to key cabinet and ambassador y'all posts when they felt it was warranted, when they didn't like an administration's policy. so i think, ultimately, it's going to be about whether

senator graham and other republicans can gain more support for the idea of getting the administration to talk more about the benghazi incident, um, in exchange for moving these nominees through. on their face i don't expect the senate to reject mr. brennan for cia chief, and despite mr. hagel's troubles in the confirmation hearing, i don't expect he will be blocked as a matter of substance or his performance in the hearings. but it is true that if a couple of senators decide to hold things up because they want more answers, it gives the administration a choice. it can either go to bat against the republicans and say they're being unreasonable, they're being political, they need to back down, or they could make a decision we just want to get this thing through, let's try to give them enough information to satisfy them and get it over with. jon: a mouthpiece for the administration in this situation said these are critical national security positions, and

individual members -- meaning senators -- shouldn't play politics with their nominations. but isn't that what happens at every nomination, the senators trot out their list of wants, you know, information wise from the administration and use some leverage? >> yes, i mean -- well, jon, that's what advise and consent ultimately means. it means you shouldn't block unless there's an extraordinary measure, but you can advise and kind of let the administration know what you want in exchange. and, again, it's a matter of what voters think, it's a matter of what -- how people are going to interpret this. i think ha if the american public doesn't rise up and get mad at lindsey graham for demanding these answers, he can keep on doing it, and it's not really going to be a problem. you know, politically if people think the republicans in the senate are being unreasonable, then it becomes a problem and vice versa. so i think this is just what happens when you have a republican president with a democratic senate or, in this case, republicans holding up --

jon: right. >> -- a democratic president. everybody argues it's politics, but everybody does it. jon: everybody does it, yep, that's the point. david drucker from "roll call," thanks. >> thanks a lot. jenna: police are stepping up their oran ex-cop accused of killing three people. where that multistate manhunt stands right now and what it will take to bring this armed and very dangerous murder suspect in or figure out what's next for him. a relaxing vacation at sea turns out to be anything but relaxing. many losing patience after a cruise ship fire. what's next for them, ahead.

jon: right now more than 3,000 this passengers are stranded at sea. the coast guard says an engine room fire left a carnival cruise ship disabled off the coast of mexico.

crew members put the fire out, no one was hurt, but supplies are running low onboard and emotions are running high as passengers wait to to to be res. we have a live look from our new york newsroom. >> reporter: it's more like the slow boat to china. listen to how they're planning to do this. there are actually tugboats there are on their way to rescue this carnival cruise ship carrying 4,000 passengers and crew in total. the ship is simply adrift at sea right now. it's the carnival cruise ship triumph, and listen to this, it's advertising add the ultimate in relaxation and adventure. but passengers certainly hadn't counted on this. right now they're floating in the gulf of mexico without engine power, and they're unable to get to port on their own, the ship is. there was an early morning fire on sunday in the engine room, and that knocked out the ship's propulsion system and its massive, massive propeller ors. that fire, lucky, was put out quickly, and so far no reports of injuries. the ship left galveston, texas, last wednesday.

it was supposed to return to port today, but right now it's operating on emergency power from a backup generator onboard as it drifts 150 miles off the yucatan peninsula. now, if the engineers onboard that ship can't fix their engines on their own, the tugboats will have to bring it to port in mexico, and that could take days and days. imagine this, those tugboats if you've ever seen them, they move pretty slowly, and imagine towing a 100,000-ton ship that's 900 feet long. it is a major, major undertaking. cell phone it was was knocked out when the power went out, so then another cruise ship pulled up alongside to help reply that ship, and that's when passengers regained cell service. so we're starting to hear from family members of the passengers onboard. here's what one passenger's husband had to say. >> she was crying and stuff and said they had no power, they had no running water, they had no way to use the bathroom. >> reporter: yeah, a really

crummy way to spend a vacation. the u.s. coast guard tells us it is in communication with the ship. carnival cruise lines says all passengers will get full refunds plus reimbursement for transportation expenses. carnival cruise was in the news last year, we all remember that costa concorde ya cruise ship disaster. that was owned by a carnival subsidiary that capsized and sank off the coast of italy killing 32 passengers. so we'll keep an eye on what's going on here, and we'll report back to you. jon: what a mess! probably not very comfortable onboard a ship with no air-conditioning. >> reporter: not the way you want to spend a vacation. jon: thank you. jenna: getting back to that manhunt for the former cop turned murder suspect. police offering a $1 million reward for the capture of christopher dorner who's accused of killing three people including a police officer. his military and law enforcement training make him extremely dangerous.

jeff lanza, retired fbi special agent, joins us now on set. jeff, what do you do now? >> oh, you continue to look for him. the police have put out this tremendous amount of money for a reward, and that's going to create a lot of false leads, and it might drive him further underground which means he's not going to want to show his face anywhere, and you're going to have to do a lot of triage on that. jenna: what triggers a reward like that? is that a sign that they're concerned that the trail has gone cold? >> i think that's part of it. i think they just want to get this guy in custody as quickly as possible. they have not only members of their own force if danger, but he's also threatened their families and the public who gets in his way. so this is a very peril out situation. of. jenna: you mentioned some of the false reporting that the reward might also spark. there hasn't been a reliable sighting of him since last thursday morning. >> right. jenna: how confident are you that he's alive still, he's out there? >> well, california's a really big state if he is still in

california. he could also have moved away from there right now. but nowhere in his manifesto, that 6,000 page rambling.com unit does he give -- document does he indicate he's going the take his own life. his ultimate goal is for revenge for mistreatment by the police department. jenna: we're seeing some to the training video that has him on the footage to help try to identify them. while this story is extremely serious, i don't want to diminish that at all, he seems to be taking on, christopher dorner, a different life in the press, almost like he's a jason pour-like character that's out there, that's heavily trained, that no one can take down. tell us how you navigate that as law enforcement, because you want to, you know, really tell the public how serious this is, but we don't want to make him big than he is either. >> right. parking lot of that, although it may be a myth in his mind, you know, playing a role in his movie, but part of it's true.

i mean, he does have what he's talking about. he's got the tactical training, he knows the police, what their next move might be, how they might look for somebody like him. so they're going to have to take that into consideration, and that's going to mean using extraordinary circumstances, and that's part of the reason why the million dollar reward has been put out there. they need help from the public. jenna: real quick. what are your thoughts about the lapd reopening the case that led to his dismissal? why would they do that? >> i think they want the public to see that everything was done correctly in that case and that the reason for him doing what he's doing, there's no basis in fact or anything that they've done. jenna: they don't see him in the next couple days, i mean, how crucial really is this next week for this search? >> well, it's very crucial for the police and also all the people they're protecting, and they've got to continue that protection going forward as well as all the people in that area. he said in his manifesto no one's going to stand in his way. jenna: such a massive

undertaking. definitely a good reason. we hope they find him. jeff, thank you for your expertise as always. >> you're welcome. jenna: jon? jon: president obama is preparing for his fourth state of the union address. the political climate he's giving this speech in many and the issues he should focus on, we'll get into it next. [ anouncer ] ihop in time square to compare new griddle-melts to your usual breakfast sandwich. a lot more flavor. [ anouncer ] ihop's new griddle melts... made fresh and hot! hand crafted just for you. it's like a sexy sandwich. [ anouncer ] compare new griddle melts yourself. just $4. it's like a sexy sandwich. it's an epic breakfast sandwich. just begin with america's favorite soups. bring out chicken broccoli alfredo. or best-ever meatloaf. go to campbellskitchen.com for recipes, plus a valuable coupon. campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do.

plus a valuable coupon. that's a good thing, but it doesn't cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses.

the rest is up to you. so consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans, they pick up some of what medicare doesn't pay. and save you up to thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs. call today to request a free decision guide to help you better understand what medicare is all about. and which aarp medicare supplement plan works best for you. with these types of plans, you'll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients... plus, there are no networks, and you'll never need a referral to see a specialist. there's a range of plans to choose from, too. and they all travel with you. anywhere in the country. join the millions who have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp, an organization serving the needs of people 50 and over for generations...

and provided by unitedhealthcare insurance company, which has over 30 years of experience behind it. call today. remember, medicare supplement insurance helps cover some of what medicare doesn't pay -- expenses that could really add up. these kinds of plans could save you up to thousands in out-of-pocket costs... you'll be able choose any doctor who accepts medicare patients. and you never need referrals. so don't wait. with all the good years ahead, look for the experience and commitment to go the distance with you. call now to request your free decision guide. this easy-to-understand guide will answer some of your questions, and help you find the aarp medicare supplement plan that's right for you. jon: president obama is gearing up now for his state of the union address tomorrow night with his approval ratings

seemingly on the upswing. the latest poll numbers showing nearly half of those surveyed approve of the job the president's doing while 45% disapprove. this comes after mr. obama's re-election victory in november and recent showdowns over the tet and spending issues -- the debt and spending issues. does it mean the president has some political momentum building here? let's talk about it with chris wilson, former executive director of the texas republican party, andrew bowman is a democratic pollster and vice president of greenberg quinlan rosner. welcome to both of you. >> thanks for having me. jon: all right. so, chris, what about it? the president's approval ratings seem to be on the upswing. they are higher than the ratings for congress. does that suggest that he has the ability maybe or the license to just blast the congress and republicans in particular? >> well, i think everybody has ratings higher than the congress right now, so i'm not sure that's a great comparison. but i do think this is probably the most important speech of the

obama presidency. the question is does he continue to talk about the far-left, liberal issues he did during the inauguration speech, or does he pivot to the economy? polls show voters want to hear about it, what is he going to do with the economy? you've had nancy pelosi over the weekend saying the fact that we have a spending and debt problem is a false argument. you've got him disbanding the jobs council. so i'm not optimistic, but it does appear that he's going to pivot to the economy now. at this point he's starting to look like a ballet dancer, and i hope he makes the right decision. jon: andrew, do you agree the economy is the number one issue? >> no doubt about that. i do disagree with the issues that he talked about, i definitely believe that the economy is number one for the public, and that's where the president is going to focus tomorrow night. jon: well, if the economy is the number one thing, chris, he did get reelected, essentially, you

know, on, well, i mean, mitt romney hammered him on the economy, and president obama still got reelected. >> well, he did. i don't know that he did a great job point out the challenges to the economy. we saw the economy start to rebound. but half of americans still believe we are in recession. so this could kind of be the nixon goes to china time for obama. if he were to reach out to republicans, he's got the credibility in his own party. that's where a large majority of his popularity comes from, from his base. it's where it should come from. does he reach out to republicans, does he try to solve the issue with the debt, does he try to create changes in the way we are spending today that can stimulate the economy and create jobs? we'll find out what his approach is. if it's more of these poll-tested platitudes like he did in the inauguration where he talked about gay rights, global warming, immigration, those things matter to a lot of people, but not everyone. people are worried about does he try to cut spending and the deficit, and if so, i think it'll be a successful speech for

him. jon: the president got what he wanted in terms of higher tax rates on the people he calls millionaires and billionaires, and congress turned around and spent all of that money on one bill, the sandy can relief bill. sandy relief bill. so does he then push for higher taxes, you know, more -- higher taxes on the wealthy in this country? >> well, in the last two years we've seen about $2.4 trillion of deficit reduction, 1.7 of that coming from spending cuts and .7 coming from tax increases on the wealthy. so i think there's still a lot of need for revenue from upper income earners, and the public agrees with that. and they want to see spending cut, too, and that's what the president and democrats have put forward. i think they'll keep talking about keeping that balanced approach, and if republicans keep insisting there are no more revenues, thai not on the -- they're not on the side of the public. jon: wait, wait, quickly. where have they put forward spending cuts? >> the president and senate democrats have put forward a balanced plan to move the

sequestering back by a year, and the republicans are ve jekylling that saying they won't accept any revenue. they would rather have the sequester happen, they would rather have it tank the economy and undermine our national security than agree to a compromise. and i think, you know, the public is going to see through that sort of extremist position. jon: well, the president, i mean, the sequester proposal came from the white house, so if it goes into effect, the president essentially is left taking his own medicine. >> and it was supp 75% of the republican house caucus. jon: all right. andrew bowman, chris wilson, thank you both. >> thank you. jenna: new details on that deadly courthouse shooting this morning. gunfire exchanged with police. what we're now learning about a tragedy that claimed innocent lives. we'll bring you there next. also, returning to the witness stand fighting to save her own life after admitting she took the life of her ex-lover. decision day fast approaching for jodi arias in a sensational murder trial. what will she say next? we have that for you live. [ coughs ]

[ breathes deeply, wind blows ] [ male announcer ] halls. let the cool in. you know, from our 4,000 television commercials. yep, there i am with flo. hoo-hoo! watch it! [chuckles] anyhoo, 3 million people switched to me last year, saving an average of $475. [sigh] it feels good to help people save... with great discounts like safe driver, multicar, and multipolicy. so call me today. you'll be glad you did. cannonbox! [splash!]

and i'm here to tell homeowners that are 62 and older about a great way to live a better retirement. it's called a reverse mortgage. [ male announcer ] call right now to receive your free dvd and booklet with no obligation. it answers questions like how a reverse mortgage works, how much you qualify for, the ways to receive your money, and more. plus, when you call now, you'll get this magnifier with l.e.d. light absolutely free. when you call the experts at one reverse mortgage today, you'll learn the benefits of a government-insured reverse mortgage. it will eliminate your monthly mortgage payments and give you tax-free cash from the equity in your home. and here's the best part -- you still own your home. take control of your retirement today. ♪ ♪

jon: a fox news alert, and it appears chuck hagel will get a vote tomorrow from the senate armed services committee. the chairman of that committee, carl levin of michigan, says he will schedule the vote just hours ahead of president obama's state of the union address. chuck hagel faced a fairly difficult question and answer period in front of the committee. most observers say he didn't do particularly well, but the vote will be tomorrow in front of the armed services committee. of course, then he will have to be confirmed by the full senate assuming he gets out of that committee. we'll keep an eye on it, we'll certainly have the results of that vote for you tomorrow afternoon. jenna: well, a woman accused of brutally murdering her boyfriend set to resume her testimony this morning. her name, as you know it now, jodi arias took the stand last week for the first time describing this volatile

relationship -- according to her. today could be the day that she actually describes the killing. alicia acuna's live from our los angeles bureau. catch us up, if you will. where did this trial leave off last week? >> reporter: sure, jenna. yeah, jodi arias has been on the stand in her own defense as her attorney questions her about her relationship with travis alexander. the 32-year-old arias admits to killing alexander saying on the stand last monday that it was done out of self-defense. but while this testimony has been full of of graphic detail, so graphic that we cannot play it for you or even repeat it on television, arias has not yet testified that travis was abusive, which is going to help her claim of self-defense. during her time on the stand, arias also discussed alleged abuse by her parents, multiple relationships she has had as well as her financial problems. she also testified that she felt used by alexander, and that's a

key point as her defense team tries to define him to the jury. jenna? jenna: alicia, when do we expect cross-examination to start? >> reporter: it's really anybody's guess at this point. arias was on the stand for three days last week before court recessed on wednesday afternoon. the defense has taken hours focusing on every little detail of ms. arias' relationship with travis, and one would presume that there's still a long line of questioning left before they arrive at the day of travis alexander's murder back in june of 2008. and that really will be key as this jury has to decide whether arias acted out of jealousy as the prosecution claims or whether this was self-defense. now, if convicted of first-dee murder, jodi arias could face the death penalty. jenna? jenna: alicia, thank you. is jodi arias doing herself any favors by taking the stand? our legal panel's going to weigh in on what it could mean for the case in full.

jon: we are following breaking developments this hour in a deadly shooting at a delaware courthouse. what we are now learning about the suspect and the connection he might have had to one victim. plus, could we see another round of nuclear weapons reductions between the u.s. and russia? president obama reportedly set to talk about nuclear arms in his state of the union address. we'll break down what it could mean for this nation's security.

when i take a picture of this check, it goes straight to the bank. oh. oh look the lion is out! no mommy no! don't worry honey, it only works on checks. deposit checks from your smartphone with chase quickdeposit. just snap a picture, hit send and done.

take a step forward and chase what matters.

jenna: well, right now a new word about a fresh effort to reduce the number of the world's deadliest weapons. according to "the new york times," the president will use tomorrow night's state of the union address to renew his push for further cuts to our nuclear arsenal. not everyone's convinced this is the time to do that though. stephen yates is a former deputy assistant to the vice president

for national security affairs during the bush administration, also currently the ceo of d.c. international advisories. any move to reduce our nuclear arms, you say, is a mistake on a number of levels. why? >> well, i think at the first you have to look at dealing with russia out the box, and it brings back the unfortunate image of the president suggesting he'd have flexibility with russia after re-election. there hasn't been any significant consultation with allies that's been visible, and you look at where the president's foreign policy priorities ought to be, looking at response to the turmoil of the arab spring, dealing with russia wouldn't seem to be anyone's natural first priority right now. jenna: one of the arguments, though, for doing this, according to "the new york times," is it would save a lot of money. if we don't have to keep these nuclear weapons and store them and watch them, that's going to save us a lot of cash, and we know the type of financial situation we're in right now. why isn't that a good argument? >> one, everyone would like to save cash, but really we've had

$5 trillion added to our national debt over recent years, and maintenance of our nuclear strategic capability contributed nothing to that. and the proposed cuts, they say, would reduce about $120 billion in spending over 20 years, which is really a drop in the wasn't compared -- bucket compared to approaching $20 trillion in national debt. the second is the cut into intellectual capabilities well that should be stimulating economic development, research and development and applied technology. hitting these areas, especially the research labs, is a bigger blow than just numbers of weapons. jenna: what about the people that say, you know, numbers don't matter when it comes to nuclear arsenal? you only need a few of these weapons to cause a lot of damage, it's sill already my u.s -- silly for us to sit on so many simply because we can. >> well, it's a reasonable question to ask, a lot of people would have on their minds. but you have to think of it perhaps in this way: if someone was looking to attack the united states with a lot of missiles -- and there are a lot of nations

with a lot of missiles aimed at us -- if we wanted to have even just one nuclear deterrent going the other way, we have to have a lot of options in a lot of places in order to survive that kind of strike and retaliate. these are extreme circumstances, but as we learned with unfortunate developments in the world, sometimes these extremes are necessary. jenna: sometimes it's hard to entertain some of these scenario, scary as they are, but it does come down to national security, and a lot of times it comes down to the bottom line. senator mccain was on fox news sunday, he had an idea for a way to save money when it comes to the department of defense. let's play that sound. >> we have a proposal that for every three federal retiree, we hire only one. that would take care of the sequestration problem. that would take care of it. there are simple answers to many of these problems that we can address the problem without raising people's taxes. jenna: what do you think about that proposal? >> well, it's potentially constructive. it needs a lot more context. we have an enormous wave that's

going to be leaving the federal work force thanks to a population and employment boom back in the '90s and '80s -- '670s and '80s. we have to look at the institutional knowledge that will keep us safe and look specifically at fields that are stimulative to the economy like applying technology the government has to the private sector, but also to keep america safe, making good use of retirees is a good idea, but not hiring very many people in critical fields, i think, would be short scythed. -- shortsighted. jenna: do you have the sense either side has the solution to both keep us safe but also make the necessary cuts? >> unfortunately, i don't really. we do have these twin imperatives of economic growth and national security. i would like there to be a more fulsome dialogue on how to fill that missing middle, i just don't see it right now. jenna: stephen, thank you so much. great to have your perspective on this. >> thank you so much. jon: now this fox news alert. a shooting at a courthouse in

wilmington, delaware, we are getting reports that three people are dead, including the gunman. heather is on our breaking news desk. >> reporter: we have lots of calls out on this today, and here's what we know so far. we've talked to our philadelphia station, and they've confirmed the identity of the alleged shooter. he's 42-year-old david -- [inaudible] and what's interesting about this guy is he's been featured on the television show "america's most wanted" for international kidnapping and also bank fraud. now, we're also hearing that he along with his ex-wife and one person are now dead for a total of three deaths at that courthouse in wilmington, delaware. here can what happened this morning. -- here is what happened this morning. about 8:10 this morning he arrived at the courthouse and started shooting at his ex-wife. they were apparently there for a scheduled hearing on a child support modification. the couple have three children together. well, soon after that shooting started, authorities responded to the scene. you can see all this video right here.

they evacuated the courthouse, and they started conducting a room by room search for that shooter. a lot of details are still emerging this morning, but we have learned so far that the man was killed by police. he was featured, as i mentioned, on "america's most wanted." he fled the united states with his three children. they went to mexico, panama and other nearby countries. listen to this, it took u.s. law enforcement agencyies 19 months to find this guy. they found him with his children, eventually bringing them home. he was then sentenced to two years in prison. we think he got out probably sometime last year. we're still looking on those details, looking at those details right now. well, the shooting came on the same day, ironically, that the chief of police of wilmington was scheduled to be in the philadelphia to attend a discussion about gun safety with vice president joe biden. law enforcement officials and some other members of congress. again, jon, a lot of information coming on this, and we're awaiting more information. we'll get back to you. jon: sounds like a bad guy.

>> reporter: yeah, absolutely. jon: thank you. jenna: well, reaction pouring in to the news that pope benedict vxi will resign at the end of this month. breaking reaction to this big, historic story next on "happening now." . . . .

>> announcer: meet mary. she loves to shop online with her debit card, and so does bill, an identity thief who stole mary's identity, took over her bank accounts and stole her hard-earned money. now meet jack. after 40 years, he finally saved enough to enjoy retirement. angie, the waitress at jack's favorite diner, is also enjoying his retirement. with just a little information, she's opened up a credit line, draining the equity in jack's home. unfortunately, millions of americans just like you learn all it may take is a little misplaced information to wreak havoc on your life. this is identity theft, and no one helps stop it better than lifelock. see, ordinary credit monitoring services tell you after your identity has been stolen. they may take 30 days to alert you-- too late for jack. lifelock has the most

comprehensive identity theft protection available. if mary had lifelock's bank account alerts, she may have been notified in time to help stop it. if jack had lifelock's 24/7 proactive protection, he could have been alerted by phone or e-mail as soon as they noticed an attack on their network, before it was too late. lifelock has the most comprehensive identity theft protection available, guarding your social security number, your money, your credit, even the equity in your home. while identity theft can't be completely stopped, no one works harder to protect you than lifelock. you even get a $1 million service guarantee. that's security no one can beat. you have so much to protect and nothing to lose when you call lifelock right now and get 60 days of identity theft protection risk free-- that's right, 60 days risk free-- use promo code: notme. order now and get this document shredder to keep sensitive documents out of the wrong hands-- a $29 value, free. call the number on your screen. [♪...]

jenna: brand new stories and breaking news now. jon: we're getting more information out the vatican as we learn pope benedict is resigning at end of the month citing health reasons a live report just moments away. incredible video as a twister rips through a college town. massive destruction and many injuries as rescuers go door-to-door. we're live on the ground in mississippi. authorities now offering a million dollar reward for the ex-cop accused of revenge killing. he has still not been found. police are working round-the-clock to protect people. chris dorner named target and entire communities much on edge right now. more on breaking news, "happening now.".

this fox news alert. pope benedict announcing his resignation. the leader of more than a billion roman cath littles around the world is citing declining health. i will step down at the end of the month. i'm jon scott. jenna: i'm jenna lee. the pope's announcement taking many by surprise. he revealed his decision explaining as jon mentioned he can no longer fulfill his duties according to his own opinion because of his failing health. >> translator: in today's world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, no order to govern the bark of st. peter and proclaim the gospel both strength of body and mind are necessary. strength within the last few months deteriorated in me to the extent that i have had to recognize my capacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me.

jenna: greg palkot is live in london with the latest on this, greg? >> reporter: jenna, it was a big surprise. pope benedict xvi saying he would resign as of february 28th. that is less than eight years into his papacy. according to the vatican today that sets up a conclave of card nals and election for a new pope by mid-march. the vatican is also saying they are hoping at least there will be a new hope by easter sunday, march 31st. the 85-year-old benedict will not take part in the conclave. that to be said a conclave usually happens when a pope dice. the last time a pope has resigned in office, that was 600 years ago. benedict himself has suggested in the past that popes should step down if they felt they were not up to it. he watched as we did, up close pope john paul ii suffer through those last few years of his papacy. perhaps he wanted to avoid that. now the former german cardinal, joseph ratzinger, was a conservative and

advocate of traditional faith. he had to deal with a whole lot of issues between catholics and muslims and jews during his time in office. he also had to deal with scandal including the widespread charges of child abuse inside the catholic church. the question now is, who will be the new pope before the billion plus catholics around the world? there is some speculation it could come from south america, from africa, the developing world. history could be made but as we've seen in the past certainly there will be drama as well as those black and then white smoke signals come up from the sis teen chap nell. we'll be -- sistine chapel. we'll be watching. jenna: the twitter account we put up on the screen is something new he started. probably won't get the announcement from there. that would be a little too much. greg, much more on the story throughout the day today. big one as it is. thank you. >> reporter: thank you.

>> look at that, guys. that is a tornado right there. >> look it. >> oh, wow, dude. [inaudible] >> that is right there. jon: people are now picking up the pieces after a tornado tears through mississippi. the twister ripping out trees, downing power lines as well as damaging several homes in the area. at least 60 people are hurt. jonathan serrie live in hattiesburg, mississippi where this all took place. so what does it look like on the ground there now, jonathan? >> reporter: hi, jon. look behind me. we're located at the southeast corner of southern mississippi university. this building here is the ogeltree house. it is an alumni association building. as you can see it suffered heavy damage especially on the second floor. a few other buildings were damaged on campus as well as multiple vehicles. as we pan over to the right, you can see there are multiple trees down on campus. but no reports of injuries here at this university.

many students in fact were on break for mardi gras. statewide there are no reports of fatalities however at least 63 people were treated for injuries at local hospitals. many of them have already been released. during the peak of the storm more than 13,000 customers lost power. crews were able to restore electricity to about 2/3 of them. and as we look across the street at our live location you can see the extent of the damage. all of this debris here in front of me and then across the street you can see a church that suffered heavy damage. now what's delaying officials in assessing the full extent of the damage, as you can see, there is still a heavy downpour and that is delaying any aerial surveillance. right now state officials are saying their top priority is making sure everyone is accounted for. fortunately, so far there are no reports of any missing persons. jon? jon: wow! so, you know, i guess it could have been a lot, lot worse, as bad as it was, huh? >> absolutely. absolutely. we're told that, at least 63

people were treated at local hospitals but again, no reports of any fatalities. even those people who went to the hospital, many of them have already been treated and released. jon: jonathan serrie live in hattiesburg. thank you, jonathan. >> reporter: certainly. jenna: right now some new information on one of the largest man hunts in california history. police in los angeles now are offering a one million dollar a reward for information leading to the arrest of accused killer, christopher dorner and setting up a special task force to find the former police officer turned triple murder suspect. fox news also getting video of the fugitive showing him training with the los angeles police department. dorner is accused of course of killing police officer michael crane in an ambush as well as monica quan, the daughter of a retired police officer and her fiance. the l.a. chief of the police says dorner has to be caught before he strikes again. >> this is not about the capturing a fleeing suspect.

this is about preventing a future crime, likely a murder. every day that dorner is lose the likelihood of an attack on either a uniformed police officer or a family of a police officer is likely. jenna: word from the l.a.p.d. joining us hal eisner with kttv, with more right outside l.a.p.d. headquarters. >> reporter: this week is starting off very much like last week with the search continuing for christopher dorner. the difference this week now there is a one million dollar reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of dorner. it was a week ago last night monica quan and her fiance keith lawrence were shot to death in their car at irvine. quan, assistant basketball coach and daughter of a retired ladd captain. lawrence with the university of southern california

police force. ex-cop, christopher dorner, who was fired from the l.a.p.d. for making false statements was named a suspect in their murders. thursday morning his manifesto became big news. he is 270 pounds, six feet tall armed and dangerous given the training he got from the l.a.p.d. and the navy in intelligence. that was cleared thursday morning as dorner became the prime suspect on a pair of murders what we call the inland empire, the riverside-san bernardino area. in corona, los angeles police officer shot. in riverside, one seriously injured, the other killed. the identity of the killed officer, 34-year-old mark crane. he will be buried this week. there are 50 neighborhoods in the city of los angeles where officers are securing homes, making sure that members of the l.a.p.d. and their families are safe pause those are the ones in southern california who seem to be in the cross-hairs of christopher dorner. in los angeles, hal eisner, fox news. jenna: thank you to hal from

kttv for that report. we should also point out that law enforcement continue to search vacation homes and cabins in a a remote area of big bear valley. airplanes are ready to help if needed. we'll keep you posted as we hear more about this investigation. jon: well the northeast is struggling to get back to normal after a ferocious storm over the weekend. as more people dig out, more extreme weather is on the way. the latest on the recovery and the next big storm. plus some key vacancies in the president's national security team as he prepares to deliver the state of the union address. why his nominations for critical positions are running into roadblocks. [ male announcer ] this is sheldo whose long day setting up the news

starts with arthritis pain and a choice. take tylenol or take aleve, the #1 recommended pain reliever by orthopedic doctors. just two aleve can keep pain away all day. back to the news.

jenna: some live pictures now out of hattiesburg, mississippi, as we get more information on the twister that caused dozens of injuries and a lot of damage

as you can see on your screen. we have a public information officer with the mississippi emergency management agency. greg, we've been reporting 60 people with injuries but no fatalities. any update to those numbers. >> absolutely miraculous we are dealing with no deaths given the video that you all have been showing in the video of the tornado moving through the county. again, yeah, we do have at least 63 injuries. most minor. we do have a report of two critical injuries in lamar county which is just to the west of hattiesburg. it is the county neighboring it to the west. i don't have exactly how those folks were hurt but two critical in that county. jenna: wow! what kind of warning did people get? >> you know, i can not say enough about the national weather service and the meterologist ifs that, and our local television station. it was amazing. they knew on thursday and friday they were warning us that this was a possibility

on sunday. and they said, the greatest impact, possibility of tornados would be in south mississippi, late in the afternoon. and they hit it right on the head. and i think that is probably why we're seeing no fatalities just because people took this seriously. they knew it was coming and they hung dered -- hunkered down and took the advise to get into a safe place. jenna: when you see these pictures it is almost unbelievable there were no fatalities with the damage we're seeing. what kind of damage are you personsing? what are you working with with your team? >> they're right now doing damage assessments of the early number they're throwing around is about 300 homes. whether that be mobile homes or actual houses. we're really scanning a, about a six-county area. this tornado appears to have started in marion county and worked its way east into lamar, forest, perry and wayne county on the border with alabama. so we're out there doing damage assessments trying to get a good number of how

many homes were affected. then we will make the determination on any kind of request to fema. jenna: wow! sounds like your team is on it, greg. thanks so much for the work you do and taking time to join us here today. >> thank you for what you guys are doing. jenna: greg flynn, with the mississippi emergency management agency. quite a scene down in mississippi. we have storm threats that are far from over around this country. there are some winter storm watches as well as blizzard warnings in effect for part of the country. we're getting a little bit of everything. janice dean is with us to give us more what we should keep an eye on across the nation today. we'll have that a little later this hour. jon: breaking news now from washington. we're just getting word that the senate armed services committee plans to vote tomorrow on chuck hagel's nomination to be our next secretary of defense. so far only secretary of state john kerry has had smooth sailing through the confirmation process. overall the president's other nominees have faced very tough questioning in the senate. that includes chuck hagel,

john brennan to be cia director and jack lew as treasury secretary. chief political correspondent carl cameron is live in washington with a look how this whole process is going. carl? >> reporter: hi, jon. well president obama is actually sort of behind the pace that his two predecessors set. george w. bush had his entire new second term cabinet in place in the first week of february. and bill clinton back in 1997 had his whole team in place by the end of january. he was inaugurated and they were all virtually confirmed in a block. the president is running behind. mr. hagel and brennan face some very, very tough confirmation hearings. in fact though mr. hagel's nomination to be the defense secretary will go before the armed services committee tomorrow for a vote it could be held up. john mccain, excuse me, senator lindsey graham, the republican senator from south carolina, has said he could put holds on both of senatorial privilege. unofficial and informal way of soing things dead in their tracks.

he says both brennan as well as mr. hagel have not come clean and he has more questions and he needs straight answers. listen. >> i don't think we should allow brennan to go forward for the cia directorship, hagel to be confirmed as secretary of defense until the white house gives us an accounting, did the president ever pick up the phone and call anyone in the libyan government to help these folks? >> reporter: he is talking about the attacks on the u.s. consulate in benghazi. republican freshman texas senator ted cruz also threadent holding up nominations. democrats are furious and they're worried. watch. >> this is unprecedented, unwarranted to stop or attempt to try to stop the nomination of a secretary of defense and a cia director. >> reporter: well the problem with all this if they go to the committee tomorrow and mr. hagel is in fact held, his nomination is stopped, then that is over. it will have to be worked out. on the other hand if he gets to the floor as expected

eventually for both of these nominations there could be filibusters. here is the senator from oklahoma. >> in the last nine years we did it nine times and some of them have been confirmed, some have not. but i really don't see anything wrong with requiring a 60-vote margin for either one of the two most significant jobs or appointments a president has. >> reporter: that too, the third very important job, treasury secretary jack lew, who was the president's budget director and chief of staff would become the u.s. treasury secretary has his own confirmation problems. his hearings are supposed to start wednesday on the state of the union and already alabama senator jeff sessions has threatened to put a hold and perhaps filibuster or have at least tough questions and slow the process down, ranging on everything from offshore cayman island accounts by mr. lew as well as session's assertion that testimony before congress in the past mr. lew has been less than forthright and perhaps perjured himself on such issues such as the budget.

many, many vacancies. there is no director of the small business administration. jon: environmental protection agency and alcohol tobacco and firearms, vacant secretaries at interior, commerce, and labor. the obama administration is heading into busy second term and the whole team is not on the bench yet. jon: interesting developments. that will be an interesting week. carl cameron. jenna: breaking news out of the vatican today. an historic day in that. we're getting reaction in the pope's surprising decision to resign. this is the first time it happened in hundreds of years. we'll [ fishing rod casting line, marching band playing ]

[ male announcer ] the rhythm of life. [ whistle blowing ] where do you hear that beat? campbell's healthy request soup lets you hear it... in your heart. [ basketball bouncing ] heart healthy. great taste. mmm... [ male announcer ] sounds good. it's amazing what soup can do. new griddle-melts to youre usual breakfast sandwich.s good. a lot more flavor. [ anouncer ] ihop's new griddle melts... made fresh and hot! hand crafted just for you. it's like a sexy sandwich. [ anouncer ] compare new griddle melts yourself. just $4. it's like a sexy sandwich. it's an epic breakfast sandwich.

jenna: stunning news from the vatican today. pope benedict xvi announcing his decision to make way for a new leader of the roman catholic church. becoming the first pope to

resign since the middle ages. at 85 years old the pope says he no longer has the strength he really feels he needs to carry out his duties. >> translator: after having repeatedly examined by conscience before god i have come to the certainty that my strength, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the patron ministry. jenna: christopher ready is an associate professor of theology at the catholic university of america. so, professor, we heard, you know, from the pope himself that he is concerned that he can carry on his duties. and we do say that the pope is the leader of the catholic church but many of us probably don't know what the pope does on a regular basis, what those duties are like. what can you tell us about the pace and the routine of the pope? >> well, it's definitely a very demanding job. you have responsibilities within the vatican. you've got responsibilities within the catholic church around the globe and you

have responsibilities to the world community. and these are daily and i think that they're unrelenting. the pope is meeting every day with his closest advisors at the vatican. he is appointing bishops. he is making decisions about foreign policy as it were or vatican policy around the world. responding to the needs of the church and trying to help out his brother bishops and other churches around the world. so it's full time and it's very demanding. i can't imagine what is would be like doing that job at 85. jenna: a big job but probably not a lot of vacation time. >> no. jenna: lou do you think that is going, go into the choice for the next pope? who will be taking that position knowing that the demands of the world that that person is going to live in? >> sure. well, it's always hard to say to predict how these things will happen. i'm sure that the cardinals will take into consideration, what we call human characteristics and spiritual characteristics. obviously they will be looking most deeply for a man of god, someone who is

holy, who can relate well to people. he will also look at a human level. well, we need somebody with vigor and with energy. we need someone who can carry this out. we need someone who can relate to the church around the world. what languages can they speak? certainly the spoke would need to speak italian. you would need somebody, hopefully who could speak english and spanish as well. so there is a lot of characteristics both about spiritually and just on a pure human level. jenna: a lot of names being tossed out there. any thoughts about who would be the next pope? >> oh, that's, that's a fool's guess in some ways. i mean i think there are certainly some cardinals who have experience at the vatican. there are some, you know, some have mentioned some italian cardinals as well. jenna: is it time for an american? because cardinal dolan, a lot of people have been talking about him. does it seem like now's the time? >> well i think cardinal dolan would be a party for the church. and he would bring a lot of

joy but i think it is extremely unlikely there would be an american for various reasons. i think it more likely will be somebody from europe or from latin america or another one of another continent. there is too much concern maybe too much concentration of power in america. jenna: interesting. professor, we look forward to having you back over the next couple weeks because that decision will be made and it will be unfolding and it is history we'll witness together. thank you for the time today. look forward to having you back. >> sure. thank you very much. jon: the northeast is still digging out after a massive storm dumps up to three feet of snow across new england. we're live in massachusetts with a look at the goings on there. and she is accused of stabbing her ex-boyfriend and slitting his throat and shooting him. jodi arias is back on the stand today. will her testimony help her avoid a death sentence? ] find ? a. alright, another one just like that. right in the old bucket. good toss! see that's much better! that was good.

you had your shoulder pointed, you kept your eyes on your target. let's do it again -- watch me. just like that one... [ male announcer ] the durability of the volkswagen passat. pa down something he will be grateful for. good arm. that's the power of german engineering. ♪ back to you.

jon: right now the northeast is still reeling after a historic storm slams the region, dumping up to three feet of snow on parts of connecticut. folks are trying to dig out and head to work as highways begin to reopen. meanwhile the storm dumping more than two feet of snow on massachusetts. massive power outages forcing people there to deal with some freezing temperatures as they try to get back on their feet. molly line is live in plymouth, massachusetts. she has the latest for us there. molly? >> reporter: hi, things are still very messy here. very sloppy.

also cold and rainy. that is one of the main concerns today this rain will fall and turn everything into a big slushy mess making that commute even more dangerous. we already heard from earlier this morning there was at least one pedestrian that was actually hit by a car over the course of this morning. it is pretty messy and dangerous out there. this is one example of what people are dealing with. we're in plymouth, massachusetts. this is the main street. about half of plymouth is still without power at this hour. massachusetts governor duval patrick had a chance to come down here not south shore, south of boston and tour some of the hardest hit areas. there is an area where the see came up over the seawall into low-lying coastal neighborhoods. about 100 people spent the night in a shelter there. about statewide about a thousand people have been forced to seek shelter. there are still one,000 households and businesses that are without power -- 100,000. the utility crews are out in force. m-star says some of the

homes may not have power until thursday, later on this week. national grid, the other major utility provider here in the state of massachusetts, they say some folks may have to wait until as late as tomorrow evening a lot of homes are struggling to get power back. a few of the homeowners stopped me here on main street to tell them their homes are 35 degrees outside. a cold one for those waiting to get power back on. jon: what a mess. molly line reporting live from plymouth. thank you. jenna: the severe weather threat is not over quite yet. winter storm watches are in effect for parts of the country today and you have plows out out in full force in minnesota where snow dumped for an hour at times. drivers described what is a scary situation. >> i couldn't change lanes. i was too scared to do anything. >> can't make a straight turn. >> it was pretty bad. jenna: janice dean, live in the fox weather center with an update for us now. jd. >> groundhog said we had an

early spring. jenna: what is up with that. >> what was he drinking right? let's look what we're dealing with the potential for winter weather advisors as well as blizzard warnings in effect for parts of the dakotas and minnesota. this low pressure spins across the great lakes bringing more snow to the region and unfortunately very gusty winds. then we have the system that brought tornados over the weekend, the devastating pictures we're getting out of mississippi and alabama. this frontal system will stall out and bring inches and inches of rain. flood watches and warnings are posted here. then we have the moisture still working its way into the northeast the good news here that a lot of this rain will melt the snow and we're getting a little bit warmer in terms of temperatures. so all those folks still without power we'll warm you up in the next couple of days. then we could have another storm system which of course we will closely monitor for you. but flood advisorieses as i mentioned where they're getting a couple of inches of rain in a very short period of time. watch our future radar.

as we go into tuesday a new storm system breaks out across the plains. we could see snow in parts of texas and oklahoma. we'll continue to see the rain across the south. looking into wednesday, watching the system on the move, bringing the potential for snow along the mid-south and then into wednesday, watching this area again for more snow and we actually could see the potential for another storm system late in the work week into the northeast, probably news that they don't want to hear, in areas that were hard-hit from this last nor'easter. we'll keep you posted. a very busy fox news extreme weather center. jenna, back to you. jenna: keeping things interesting. something to keep an eye on. >> we'll keep you posted. jenna: jd, thank you. jon: right now a woman facing the death penalty for murdering her lover is heading back to the witness stand. the sensational trial in arizona about to resume. we could be in for another day of graphic testimony. jodi arias telling the jury last week about her volatile relationship with the victim.

prosecutors say she killed travis alexander in a jealous rage. arias admits she killed him but claims it was self-defense. about it with faith jenkins, a former prosecutor. doug burns is a former federal prosecutor and a criminal defense attorney. a lot of people were wondering about the wisdom of putting her on the stand, faith. was it a smart move? >> i don't think she had a choice. this is a death penalty case. she is facing the death penalty. look at the stats in arizona. only three woman have been on death row in arizona. she doesn't want to get the death penalty. if she gets up on the witness stand and talks as long as she possibly can about anything else other than this murder. she is trying to paint a different portrait of herself in front of the jury. all she wants one juror to say, you know what i think she is guilty but i don't want to give her the death penalty. that is what she is hoping for. jon: court observers, described her testimony rehearsed, plastic, unnatural.

if she is the way she appears before the jury about this guy she supposedly loved that will not help her, will it. >> a lot of psychiatric experts watch video. her affect, demeanor, vis-a-vis so much horrific violence. but the reality she had lied twice before going with a self-defense nearry. unlike the normal case, was already locked into having lied. feith is right, she had to get up there. you know the cross-examination will be interesting, i'll tell you that. going in it is a little too easy to predict that they're going to kill her on cross. we'll see. the fact. matter is she already come up with kind of a on some level, sympathetic notion. i was going to kill myself, that's why i lied. we'll see how that plays out. jon: but the notion she is this battered woman, we're looking at her mother in the front row and blamed her miserable life on the mistreatment of her mother and parents and so forth. if she throws all that out there and there is no proof

to really back it up -- >> right. i think it will be fascinating to see if she has another witness that will come on the stand and say, travis alexander, he battered me but another witness also shays that as well. otherwise it is just her word. talking about a case, self-defense, she stabbed this guy 27 times. she killed him three times. it was such overkill, such viciousness and brutality, it is hard for anyone to wrap their head around that. jon: that saint sound like, self-defense, you fire the gun or you maybe take one plunge with the knife and run away. >> i've said it before i will say it again. in this case you have to be horrified that she stabbed the victim 27 times. if you tried the case as what we lawyers call heat of passion defense, i flew into a jealous rage you can embrace it and technically manslaughter. we talked about that. i'm not so sure why the defense chose the theory they did to try this case. >> at the end of the day when you think about someone who is brutal murderer who

committed a crime like this and you have a picture of them in your mind it is not jody aras's face that shows us. she knows that. she is taking the stand because she knows it is hard for em, it will be hard for some jurors to look at her and say she deserves the death penalty. jon: she isp a parently quite soft spoken. >> right. jon: she comes across maybe human, maybe motionless and cold but -- >> no coincidence that the subject matters area she is raising we lawyer call mitigating factors at death penalty phase. simple translation. trouble in the childhood, people abusing you. that can help people avoid the death penalty. on many levels that is why faith said she will raise the points. jon: faith, the jury will want to see a human reaction. she apparently is coming off like a robot. >> she is boeing to get convicted. she knows that. she is talking about the murder as if talking to the neighbor taking out the trash the next day. completely flat and emotionless. as a juror you see that as

well. it is like you want her to have some kind of remorse but it's not in her. this is just one of those people, they don't have it in them. when she gets on the witness stand it shows. jon: well, i think the prosecution is going to get a go at her today. it will be interesting to see the questions that they have it ask her. >> and they're going to get a slight rebuttal case. jon: okay. well, we'll keep an eye on it. doug burns, faith jenkins. >> my pleasure, jon. jenna: some comments from a news anchor raising some eyebrows? a news anchor questioned whether a doctor crossed the line when introducing the president at the national prayer breakfast. our news watch man nell debates it ahead. if you want your news read you might as well get to pick who reads it, right? that is the lesson of television news. none of them on this app are as good as jon scott. jon: there i am. >> that is not jon scott with purple hair. you can choose your very own

news anchor and we'll show you how, ahead ♪

this is amazing, how did you fi us? i thought we might be related, so i had a fiber analysis done and sure eh, we're family. but you're not even shredded. you're...crunchy?! that happens sometimes. and you help keep people full with whole grain fiber? just like yoguys. [ female announcer ] they're different, but the same. new frosted mini-wheats crunch. a tasty square packed with a crunch... [ crunch! ] ...of whole grain fiber that helps keep you full. it's a big breakfast... [ crunch! ] ...in new a little biscuit. sme! ohhh bring it in! ooohhhooh!

jenna: some new video out of big bear, california, which is right outside of riverside, l.a. area where the search goes on for christopher dorner. you're seeing brand new video out from this morning where the search continues there. they continue to search cabins and just be in the general area looking for christopher dorner. no one really knows if he is still there. a million dollars for the capture and conviction of this alleged murderer. we do have some new pictures of him, some new video. you will see that throughout the day on fox news as authorities try to get out the word to see if the public can help them track down this guy. again, no leads at this time? and a big question about what's his next move. we'll keep you posted as we hear more. jon: more questions about the mainstream media's role in the news. cnn anchor candy crowley

asks her panel whether it was quote, inappropriate for a doctor to give his personal conservative opinions in a speech introducing president obama at the national prayer breakfast last week. here's the clip. >> this dr. ben carson. he is a, a world-renown pediatric neurosurgeon, out of johns hopkins. he was at the prayer breakfast and he was talking about the idea of, you know, weaving the bible into some objections he appears to have with the president's approach. take a listen. >> when i pick up my bible, you know what i see? i see the fairest individual in the universe, god. he has given us a system. it is called tithe. we don't necessarily have to do 10% but the principle. he didn't say if your crops fail, don't give me any tithes? he didn't say if you have a bumper crop give me triple tithes. there must be something inherently fair about

proportionality. >> whoa! whoa, this was really interesting number one for the venue. number two for the person doing this. he may be a political person but first time i've seen him on the national stage. jon: all right. so let's talk about all of that with alan colmes. he is the host of the "alan colmes radio show" and author of, thank the liberals for saving america and why you should. cal thomas is syndicated columnist and fox news contributor. whoa, cal, candy crowley seems never to have heard of such a thing. >> candy was correct. put that in your pipe and smoke it, alan. i've been attending this prayer breakfast since 1971. the purpose of it is and been going on for 61 years since the eisenhower administration to bring people of different backgrounds, political, even religious together in the spirit of jesus of nazareth and bridge partisan and political divides. the first half of this speech, ben carson, which he talked about his upbringing in detroit, how he overcome

so many things was a role model not only for african-americans but for every american. it is a wonderful story and i heard him tell it before. he drifted off to politics frankly were a shock to people that were organizers of this event. representatives of 160 nations who were there and for many democrats who were there not only on the dais and audience it came as a great shock. i never heard the breakfast used for political ends. candy was right in asking the question. jon: do you think he was out of line? >> well i think it was inappropriate. i agree with his remarks. i wouldn't disagree with a single thing he said. it wasn't the right venue for doing it and didn't live up to the pure of the breakfast. jon: alan, your thoughts. >> what cal said. this is why i love cal. the fact is cal is right. whether he should or should not have said it candy crowley was right. isn't it crowley? any way candy crowley was

right to ask about it. she didn't ask about it in a partisan manner. she asked about in a fair and balance manner of her panel which is what a host should do. i don't know why the right should be upset with candy crowley doing her job asking about something that was unusual to have happen in a prayer breakfast. i don't think we should have prayer breakfast. i don't think we need government to do that. as long as we have one it should be nonpartisan. jon: as long as we'll have one, maybe the president shouldn't complain how it gets covered. take a listen to this. >> this is now our fifth prayer breakfast. and it is always just a wonderful event, but i do worry sometimes that as soon as we leave the prayer breakfast everything we've been talking about, the whole time at the prayer breakfast seems to be forgotten. on the same day of the prayer breakfast. [laughter] i mean, you'd like to think that the shelf life wasn't so short.

but i go back to the oval office and i start watching the cable news networks and it is like we didn't pray. jon: so, what is going on there, cal? sounds like the president wants credit, i guess for hosting or attending the prayer breakfast, and, gets a little upset when we in cable news don't give him his props, i don't know? >> well, jon, this is has been going on since the eisenhower administration. it is not organized by government. it is organized by private people. the president's is always invited. it is an outgrowth and of the senate and house prayer groups that have been meeting since the 1940's. you have cosponsors, one a democrat and one republican. this year it was mark pryor, democrat and jeff sessions the republican. it is a wonderful affair. the fact it tinged off into politics gave a lot in the media an opportunity to continue fan the flames of division. it is really unfortunate. ben carson is wonderful guy with a personal story. i wish the media had spent

more time focusing on his personal story of all of the obstacles he has overcome instead of the political side. that is the problem when you bring politics into this breakfast. that's what you get. jon: alan, february 11th. are you going to agree with cal again? do we put this date on the calendar? >> i would underscore everything about this date. i think cal was right in what he said about car son's speech, first part being very appropriate. second thing less appropriate. i think the president would be wise, any president, whether president obama or any other executive, or anybody in public life to criticize the media. don't go after the people who rather big bullhorn and especially when he is singles out individual networks. i wouldn't do that because why pick that fight? the media is always adversarial to whoever is in office and should be and the person in office should probably not attack those who cover that person. i agree. jon: alan colmes, cal thomas. what a day. >> will never happen again. jon: going above and beyond

the call of duty. this former active duty army sergeant fighting back against all odds in afghanistan. the incredible story that is earning for him recognition as a med doll of honor resipient. plus, paying tribute to another american hire row. thousands -- hero. thousand us turning out for the memorial service honoring former navy s.e.a.l. and ♪ friskies indoor delights. ♪ feed the senses. i'm up next, but now i'm sging the heartburn blues. hold on, prilosec isn't for fast relief. cue up alka-seltzer. it stops heartburn fast. ♪ oh what a relief it is!

sniper. jon: right now america remembers a hero. retired navy s.e.a.l. chris kyle survived four tours of duty in iraq but he was killed just over a week ago but a fellow veteran he was trying to help. today thousands of mourners are fweerting at a memorial service in arlington, texas. casey stiegel is at cowboys stadium there now. casey? >> reporter: jon, a very

emotional day to say the least here in north texas. american flags are flying here at cowboys stadium. obviously a very large military presence. i will hop out of the way now and let you take a live look at the line of people because there are thousand us and thousands of people in line that wraps all the way around this giant venue. before we went on the air the line was past us, moving very quickly. the doors opened 20 minutes ago. the service does not start until two ours hours from now at 2:00 eastern time. these are people who knew chris kyle and frankly those who did not. perfect strangers who have been touched by his story, and wanted to come pay their respects. on friday chris kyle's friend, 35-year-old, chad littlefield was laid to rest and remembered. he was murdered at the texas gun range last weekend as well. both men were helping out a fellow comrade, 25-year-old, eddie routh. he was a former marine reportedly suffering from

posttraumatic stress disorder who is now charged with the shootings. the motive is still unclear. as to what exactly happened on that saturday but according to police documents routh said that he could not trust kyle. but we know that he was not well in and out of psychiatric care and apparently released from a local psychiatric hospital just days before this shooting, against his parents wishes. authorities have searched his home where they recovered drug paraphernalia, ammunition and his cell phone. we now understand that his court-appointed attorney is asking for a psychiatrist to evaluate him to see whether or not he is competent to stand trial. but no doubt a big showing of support in this community today. people have driven from all over. kyle will be laid to rest tomorrow in austin, texas, and people will be lining the procession route from here to austin, also to say

good bye and pay their respects. jon? jon: what a sad story. our condolences to chris kyle's loved ones. casey, thank you. >> reporter: absolutely